When Did MoCo Fall Off the Map

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And now we'll have to pay the freakin' bag tax. Grrr.

Oh yeah, 5 cents a bag. I am sure that will be a real imposition on you.
Loser.

I think the bag tax is a fabulous idea.

It is the slow creep of government in to every aspect of ones life. It starts with a 5 cent tax that seems harmless enough. Soon the government will tax or limit any action it wants.

Plastic bags have been illegal in Ireland for years, and elsewhere they are illegal or taxed, or the shop charges for them (IKEA does this).

They are a scourge on the environment and the government has a legitimate interest in discouraging their use.

This isn't Ireland. This is the United States of America. Move to Ireland if you want to live like them.

[Anonymous]

Com'on guys! Please, let's not!!

[AngryTeacher]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And now we'll have to pay the freakin' bag tax. Grrr.

Oh yeah, 5 cents a bag. I am sure that will be a real imposition on you.
Loser.

https://inspirationgreen.com/the-majestic-plastic-bag.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MoCo makes all the lists that rank the richest zip codes. I have never seen it make a list ranked by county. Potomac and Bethesda easily beat out Loudin and Falls Church on zip. MoC'so overall income/net worth would be significantly lowered because of the size of the county and availability of low income housing as well as rural areas.

This was a ranking of counties not individual zip codes. Maybe you are suggesting Potomac and Bethesda should break off from the parts of MoCo that drag it down like Wheaton and Silver Springs. I guess the schools there are very different from the ones in most of the county now?

Oh please! The schools in Potomac aren't all that.

And what part of Potomac do you live in?

Thought so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery County is conspicuously missing in action:

http://www.forbes.com/2011/04/11/americas-richest-counties-business-washington.html

Is this a consequence of policies that discouraged growth and encouraged the poor to move to Montgomery? What does this portend for the county schools?

I think it is too expensive for new good teachers to move to MoCo - so they started moving to outlying areas like Howard County - whose school system is now rated as one of the highest. With high school ratings come more expensive housing. (I wish I could find the article written about this about 8 years ago - HoCo was getting all the new teachers from local colleges - big incentives - but I can't find it.)

[Anonymous]

Howard county lacks the diversity of Montgomery Count so it is diffiuclt to compare the quality of the schools. As Howard County diversifies (which is already starting to happen) their school system will change..

[Anonymous]

so 10.55; as more non-whites move to Howard County, the schools will change? Or by diversity, do you mean more poor people?

[Anonymous]

I think it is widely documented that higher immigrant populations that are less fluent in English and may have challenges relating to poverty (which is totally different than not being intelligent or capable) tend to lead to lower test scores. I don't believe that that means they are not attending good schools only that they started at a different place. So before we say Howard county (or Bethesda or Mclean) has better schools we need to compare the population they are educating. My children go to a very diverse school and I am happy about it but it would not be called "great" based on test scores which is how must people jusdge a school or school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And now we'll have to pay the freakin' bag tax. Grrr.

Oh yeah, 5 cents a bag. I am sure that will be a real imposition on you.
Loser.

I think the bag tax is a fabulous idea.

It is the slow creep of government in to every aspect of ones life. It starts with a 5 cent tax that seems harmless enough. Soon the government will tax or limit any action it wants.

Plastic bags have been illegal in Ireland for years, and elsewhere they are illegal or taxed, or the shop charges for them (IKEA does this).

They are a scourge on the environment and the government has a legitimate interest in discouraging their use.

Plastic bags aren't illegal in Ireland - my mother lives there and has to pay for a bag in a shop if she hasn't brought her own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is widely documented that higher immigrant populations that are less fluent in English and may have challenges relating to poverty (which is totally different than not being intelligent or capable) tend to lead to lower test scores. I don't believe that that means they are not attending good schools only that they started at a different place. So before we say Howard county (or Bethesda or Mclean) has better schools we need to compare the population they are educating. My children go to a very diverse school and I am happy about it but it would not be called "great" based on test scores which is how must people jusdge a school or school system.

It does not matter if test scores prove that a school is better than another - school ratings are widely used by people to determine a good school district - hence a good place to buy a house. It does not matter whether you or I agree with it or not.

I don't really believe the rating system either - so you yank 10 merit scholars from schools all over MoCo and put them in 1 school and then claim that school is great - I get they are gaming the system.

So whether HoCo is better or not - people may believe they are because of the school district rating - which will encourage people to move there - hence the new rating in Forbes as a rich county.

[Anonymous]

HCPS are highly ranked because it has a relatively small population of well-educated, largely non-diverse, high income earners. Diversity makes us feel good inside, but there are drawbacks (as mentioned above). Based on housing costs in the County, it is hard to imagine that HoCo will be seeing the same population trends that MoCo is currently experiencing anytime soon.

[Anonymous]

Of course demographics (ESOL and FARMs rates) play a role in what the school has to deal with. There are absolutely going to be great teachers at many schools w/ high rates of both those populations of kids. But the most desirable neighborhoods will always be those w/ less economic diversity because while it's not those kids' fault that they need more help to catch up - it is also not the fault of middle class families that they want their kids to be educated at the level THEY are at and not the level that most children in the class are at due to the challenges they face. If MC allowed for class-based tracking (rather than movign the other way even further now it seems w/ the new superintendent) then I would feel much more comfortable sending DD to our local school through at least ES and possibly MS as well. But since all the kids of widely varying abilities are deliberately tossed together - what level do you think the teacher will need to pitch the lessons to and focus her attention on?

[Anonymous]

As in MoCo, demographics do not stay the same. The county has worked hard to maintain standards despite a shift in student population in certain areas. Diversity does more than make us feel good inside..it teaches us too.

[Anonymous]

You can buy much more house for your money in Howard than you can in Montgomery County. The county ranks higher in wealth because it does not have high densities of subsidized housing, lower income, or even just mid priced denser apartments, condos, and townhomes. It has nothing to do with the schools just the residential developments.

[Anonymous]

You couldn't pay me to live in Howard County. It can't compare to the quality of life you find in Bethesda, with all of DC just a short metro ride away.